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Cyclocross news & racing round-up Part I for October 9, 2005

Edited by Steve Medcroft

Welcome to our regular round-up of what's happening in cyclocross. Feel free to send feedback, news and gossip to mtb@cyclingnews.com

'Crossing over; An interview with Jonathan Page, October 5, 2005

29-year-old Jonathan Page is carving an unusual path for himself in cycling. Shunning the growing US cyclocross scene, Page lives in Belgium through the winter along with wife Cori and new baby, Emma, and competes in the intense and fiercely competitive European cyclocross circuit. His only concession to US racing is when he makes a mid-season pilgrimage to the United States. Cyclingnews' Steve Medcroft found out a bit more about this cross warrior and how he handles racing the way he does.

Photo ©:

During the December 2004 version of that pilgrimage, and for the third year in a row, Page took a solo win in the US National Cyclocross Championships. This year's win, in soggy Portland, Oregon, was the one he says he's most proud of. The past two national championships had seen Page finish a minute or more ahead of the field. In this season's race though, Page felt sluggish and lacked the kind of dominant power he'd come to depend on in domestic races. "I wasn't in top form," he said. It was more than just a down cycle though; he was suffering from severe iron deficiency. The fact that he won showcases his incredible talent for cyclocross.

But Page is not a one-dimensional racer. When his 'cross season ended in January with the 2005 World Championships in St Wendel, Germany (he finished 14th, the highest-placed American), he almost immediately kicked off a road campaign back in the States with the Colavita Cycling Team. "I did the entire road season with the team with the exception of two or three races," he said in September, 2005; just before leaving the States to set up home in Belgium for his 2005/06 campaign. "It was my best road season ever and I think it was because I had a great team."

Read the entire Jonathan Page interview here.

A Page a day: The Jonathan Page diary

Somewhat of a pioneer in US 'cross circles, Jonathan Page is one of a select few who dares to beat the best at their own game. Leaving his New England home each year for frosty Belgium, Page has done it tough, but tough has paid off, returning Stateside to win three national championships on the trot.

So... my first diary for Cyclingnews.com today. I'll start with a little bit of background. I am the current national cyclocross champion and for the past two years, I have spent the winters with my wife Cori in Belgium to race cyclocross. Last year, our daughter Emma was born here on October 17th! She received a wonderful welcome from friends here and supporters at the cyclocross races and a few weeks later, some of our family came over to see her too. The racing has been hard in Belgium but I am getting better in the races and now have a lot of friends and supporters here. For the second year now, I have put together my own team of individual sponsors. This year my sponsors are: Cervelo, Shimano, Adidas, Mavic, Hincapie, Oakley, Specialized, DeFeet, Thomson, Naults bike shop, and HotTubes.

This year we arrived in Belgium on September 14th. Since the woman we rent this house from is a nut and the house has a lot of problems (including but not limited to NO insulation - AT ALL! - you can stand in the stairway and the wind will blow your hair!!), we are planning to move out of our house earlier than we originally thought. We are in the process of trying to buy a house here. A whole other story... It's been interesting and fun but stressful too and so now we are just ready to get one and be done with it. The weather has been awesome. (I mean it seriously this time!) I think mother nature is paying us back for the first fall/winter we were here when Belgium had it's hardest winter in over 100 years! We'll take it!

Read the entire Jonathan Page diary here.

Interbike: Hanging at the Specialized booth with Andy Jaques-Maynes and his Specialized TriCross frameset

By Steve Medcroft

Andy Jaques-Maynes
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft

For the 21,000 attendees and media, Interbike is a bike-geek's Disneyland. We cruise the aisles oohing and aahing and compiling mental lists of all the neat new things we just have to try next year. But behind the scenes are a couple thousand workers, the industry employed, there to serve and sell us. Everyone from cycling dignitaries (Eddy Merckx), company presidents (Gary Erickson; Clif Bar) and sales people (David Agapito, DT Swiss) spend a tiring week talking, demonstrating, hyping and entertaining. Among the two-score contingent of red-shirted Specialized workers was road-bike Product Manager and Webcor Pro Cycling Team member Andy Jaques-Maynes. We pulled the California-based cyclocross specialist aside to talk about his new S-Works Tricross frameset, life on the U.S. cyclocross circuit and his job at Specialized.

Cyclingnews: Where did the inspiration for the Tricross come from?

Andy Jaques-Maynes: Chris Dalusio (a fellow Specialized product manager) and I developed the design of the frame and fork. We both spent most of last winter racing ‘cross; traveling all over doing the USGP (U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross) series. We've known each other since I was racing on the Clif bar pro cyclocross team. His wife, (Carmen Dalsuio) and I were teammates so he would come along with us, do the master's races then pit for us afterwards. Between the two of us, we have years of experience. Last season, we won almost ten races trying to develop the bike.

CN: What are some of the race-inspired features that made it into the final frame?

AJM: We put in a lot of features you can only get by looking at design from a rider's perspective. The tube shaping is flattened out. The top tube, for example, has a straight top and a smooth, steady arc on the bottom. We also shaped the down tube so when you put the bike on your shoulder and grab the handlebar, every part of the bike you touch is smoothed out. It eliminates injury and bruising. My girlfriend has a (‘cross bike) with a standard round top tube. I put it on my shoulder just to bring it up the stairs to our apartment and it dug in; I'm so used to riding with a flattened top tube now.

Click here for the full feature

Kona's 'cross team for 2005/06

Kone released its cyclocross team roster for the 2004-05 season. Besides a core of returning racers, Kona has added Canadian Cyclocross National Champion Wendy Simms NORBA National Series racer Georgia Gould.

Kona riders Ryan Trebon and Ann Knapp won the overall Crank Brothers Grand Prix of Cyclocross Elite Men and Women's titles last season and took Silver and Bronze respectively at the 2005 Cyclocross National Championships.

The 2005/06 Kona cyclocross squad:

Ann Knapp-Elite Women, Des Moines, WA - Leading the Elite women for the Kona team in what will be her swan song season of elite racing is Ann Knapp. Knapp has been the winningest rider in U.S. cyclocross history; notching overall wins in 2005 Grand Prix's, past SuperCups, winning a National Championship in 2003 and riding to two top five finishes in Cyclocross World Championships. She rolled to victory in five out of six 2005 Grand Prix races and capped the season with a bronze medal at the National Championships.

Wendy Simms-Elite Women, Nainaimo, B. C. - Joining the Kona team this year is Canadian Cyclocross Champion Wendy Simms. Wendy has been dominant on the mountain bike scene, winning four Canada Cups in 2005 and finishing 3rd overall at Sea Otter.

Georgia Gould-Elite Women, Ketchum, ID - Joining the regional team this year will be up and coming racer Georgia Gould. She currently holds three cyclocross state championship titles in ID, PD and MD. Her goal is to win the mid-Atlantic Series and test her mettle at the Gran Prix. She is fresh off a stellar mountain bike season posting 8th place finishes at Schweitzer and Snowmass and a 15th place finish at the world cup in Angel Fire, NM in the Elite Women class.

Ryan Trebon-Elite Men, Corvalis, OR - Leading the Elite Men's team is Ryan "Tree Farm" Trebon. Trebon won the overall Gran Prix and took home the silver medal at the 2005 Nationals Championships. He has his sights set on the winning the national championship title this year and competing at the top level in Super Prestige and World Cups in Europe. Trebon is just recovering from a broken wrist.

Barry Wicks-Elite Men, Corvalis, OR - Barry "WickNasty" Wicks is ready to make some amends for an up and down MTB season. On one hand he had his best NORBA finish - cracking the top five and finishing fourth at Snowshoe, West Virginia - but on the other hand the legs weren't there for the next race. He has enlisted cross coaching legend Geoff Proctor and all seems to be on schedule.

Erik Tonkin-Elite Men, Portland, OR - Erik "Tonkinator" Tonkin rounds out the Elite Men's squad and has taken over the blue collar workingman's hero role from fellow Kona Rider Dale Knapp. Like many Kona team riders he has a "real" job and sometimes spends 60 hours a week at the shop he owns Sellwood Cycle Repair. Many nights prior to catching a cross country flight to a Grand Prix, he'll be wrenching late night, not on his own bikes but on a good customer's bike so they can be ready for the next Cross Crusade. Few racers live for the race as much as Tonkin. Fresh off a 10th place finish at the 2005 NORBA National Championships in Mammoth Mountain, Erik will continue his ascension through the top ten to the podium spots he has been working towards.

Dale Knapp-Masters Men, Des Moines, WA - After over 10 years of Elite Racing, crowd favourite Dale "Heavy D" Knapp will joining the Master's ranks in search of the elusive National Title. Fearful of being called a sandbagger, even though he is 40 years old, Knapp wanted a clean break from the Elite ranks and took a year off from racing. His participation in 10 straight World Championship Teams is a record that may never be matched. He was a pioneer in cross before many even knew what it was. For years we he was slugging it out in Europe as the lone unfunded American.

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